Maple Syrup Feeding: I'm a newbie

Due the exoskeleton of the adult Muscle atrophy is not apparent. Weighing the adult males regularly gives you an idea.

The longer lived beetles will benefit more from a proper diet. Once I ordered a huge crab at a restaurant that was alive in a tank, when I broke open the claw I was shocked. The muscles had atrophied so much that they were so small, even though this was a really huge crab. Think of your beetles that way!

 
In terms of vitamins that the beetles need, what about grinding up a bit of a multivitamin and adding that to the syrup/fruit/sweet things? Even though it's made for humans, it still has several of these nutrients.

Do people still get eggs even if they just feed their beetles fruit/syrup/sweet things without the other nutrients? Or do you get more eggs with a more nutritious diet?

 
I wouldn't recommend a human multivitamin, it has too many vitamins and minerals that aren't needed and possibly toxic for beetles.

Wardley tropical fish flake food is a better alternative and easy to powder and mix.

People get eggs without other nutrients. Some claim higher protein can induce the female to lay more eggs. I haven't found an experiment recorded with a control group and experimental group yet that shows that though. Look into lactic acid beetle jelly.

 
I was trying maple syrup/water 50/50 mix on paper towels the other day and the paper towel got moldy pretty quick, has anyone had this happen to them?

 
I have never seen a paper towel go moldy unless it's something difficult to see.

 
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Really? Maybe I used too much water. I did not use a bowl. I think it was in there 3 or 4 days. My sub had mites as well.

I will run a test. I will try to replicate what I did as well as I can, and wait. I still have the contaminated sub
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I am not sure if there was mold on the sub, I do not remember seeing any.

The towel was moldy though, possibly not enough air holes?

 
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Update. I never ran the experiment. I figured out it had to be because I forgot to drill ventilation holes. It was a Rubbermaid container. Case closed.

 
Why resurrecting an old thread is frowned upon, I do not know, but I am going to do it right now.

Forgive my blatant lack of knowledge please, but are these beetle jellies formulated based on a species natural diet, or just general? it sounds like notable consideration has been given to nutrition given its specific purpose.

Example, granti. What do they feed on natively? Apparently it works well.....what is it's nutritional composition and is that reproduced in the jellies in question? They are Arizona native right? So then native tree sap, something they consume regularly right......this would be ideal wouldn't it? Maybe not easy to reproduce, but seems like it would be a valid basis for proper nutrition for this species.....regardless of adult lifespan.

I am learning as I go =).

 
Trace. This has pepople in a tizzy, trace nutrients. Also protein. It does seem that when a beetle eats jelly they leave more quickly than with dilouted maple syrup. I also think, I stress think as I'm rather new to it, they might lay less eggs when feed only a diet of maple syrup. I personally think they like the maple syrup more, they just sit on it for days, especially the females.

I also see less mites in the containers I used maple syrup in.

 
Yeah they consume sap from open wounds on trees. How they find mates and such in nature. There's kinda a debate about it. Natural/ Artifical, I think most people think humans can win or do better than the natural world, even in these communities; and it's up for debate. Additives make things "better" but at what cost, and are they just a placebo to humans to think they're doing better. Questions!

I do want to make one point that I've careless left out.

I love to feed my females the white jellies, I think they are milk, supposed to be higher in protein. When the females are finshed I often find a "skin" of white, caulk or silcone like, left over in their container. This really bothers me. Has anyone else experienced this or know what the hell that is?

 
Natural vitamins are better than artificial ones.

The additives aren't a placebo, but I would like to send some beetle jellys to a lab for analysis to see if the makers are honest about the ingredients they claim to use.

I was told the white jellys have lactic acid to induce egg laying. I like them because they are not too wet and are good for using before a vacation. I have seen the residue, I think it's just the jelly they don't get dries up and makes the film on the container.

 
The beetles squirt fluid wastes and it usually ends up on the surface of the containers. This dries out and leaves a residue containing what the beetle didn't digest and some nitrogenous waste.
Most insects produce uric acid as nitrogenous waste and it's a white, chalky material.

 
I was talking about the food residue in this case. Just food residue.

What species of beetles are ejecting waste fluid in your beetle jelly containers?

 
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